Math Accomplishment

679 Words2 Pages

Prompt
Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
Word Count Limit: 650 words
Essay
Sharing knowledge with others is both an enriching and rewarding experience. I didn't discover this until my journey into teaching. When fellow students and teachers acclaimed my math skills and problem solving techniques, I realized that math is one of my strengths and that I am able to articulate difficult math concepts easily. What started out as a casual conversation with my math academy teacher was soon put to the test and my journey into teaching began.
The director of the honors academy was associated with a non-profit organization called
Orange …show more content…

Would they listen to what I, someone barely into high school, had to say? The lectures and lessons were tense at first, but gradually I created a more interactive and exciting environment where the children showed promise in understanding interesting mathematical concepts. My communication skills drastically improved and my confidence grew steadily each session. Overcoming my initial hesitance to pursue teaching proved one of the best decisions of my life.
After teaching for over a year and improving my leadership skills, I was becoming comfortable with addressing larger audiences. My next venture was volunteering at the local
Discovery Science Center teaching adults as well as children. My main responsibility was to educate all visitors about the intricacies of all science exhibits and activities and be a subjectmatter expert to answer their questions or concerns. Unlike at the math academy, the environment at the center was more formal with a larger age range. Instructing unfamiliar audiences proved to be quite intimidating as I had to prepare and present demonstrations that …show more content…

As a tennis player myself, I joined the organization No Limitz
Tennis, teaching tennis to children with autism and other special needs. At the beginning, the challenge was getting to know every participant and making each feel comfortable playing the game in a team environment. It took extra effort to get the students to focus and follow structured lesson plans. As coaches, we needed to think of different approaches to make every session useful to the players and to their parents. Using repetitive drills and motion signals to display proper techniques helped facilitate the sessions, and soon I was able to connect with the players.
After multiple sessions, we became more familiar with each other and started enjoying the game of tennis together. Teaching is strenuous, but the overall experience is very humbling.
The venerable Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see." I believe that if one could share his/her knowledge with his/her community, similar to how Mr. Salman
Khan demonstrated with Khan Academy, then communication becomes more powerful and enables the whole community to flourish. My personal experiences haven given me

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